Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance

So much to do; so little time. Besides my day job, I embarked on a lot of other project ventures that might or might not make money. The concept is you should work really hard and smart for a period of time and make something out of it, so you can enjoy life at a later stage (hopefully the duration isn't too long or too painful; or will it ever end?). Financial independence before retirement age, so to say.

Anyway, theoretically it would be super productive it we could work 24 hours, but our body won't allow that. Let’s say besides sleep and eat, we use the rest of the time to work. That wouldn't work either, because our mind won't allow it. Basically no matter how much work is there, we really can't work most of the time (at least not for long duration). We need to watch some TV, hang out with friends or just resting doing nothing, even though we have tons of work to do. Since we could not increase the duration we work, we could try to increase efficiency instead. Use a different method to churn out more output in the same timeframe, thus increasing productivity without increasing time. It is sometimes known as work smart.

There are a few principles that I follow, or at least try to:

• Don't even try to work all the time. Only work when you have enough rest and energised. No point working if you productivity will be low.
• Don't feel guilty for not working even though there are tons of works need to be done. You should feel guilty for not having enough rest and fun. Only a happy and satisfied person will have high productivity.
• Break large task into smaller tasks and goals. They are more manageable and less stressful, with greater sense of achievement. Accomplish something small everyday. Sikit-skit, lama-lama jadi bukit (Malay Language: Small accumulation will become large eventually).
• Try not to start too many things within the same timeframe (I am trapped with this as I couldn't resist or evaluate the opportunity properly). You productivity is limited so use them wisely.
• Try to overcome procrastination. Dexirity Software have a pretty good article on this and related topics, such as How to get more done in less time, From Slump to Supercharged and. Pretty good read.

"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance", wisdom by some great dude.